Elongated strands of looped sausage links are typically subjected to liquid or natural smoke after being formed on a sausage making machine. The smoke environment is intended to impart flavor to the sausage. See such a machine disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,532,858. The sausage strand is draped over hooks on a conveyor which is rotated through a smoke compartment where a spray of liquid smoke, or natural smoke, is present. The conveyor includes a continuous conveyor chain which moves through the compartment in more than one plane.
The problem with the existing conveyor chains is that the hooks thereon are substantially spaced to accommodate the turns in the circuitous path of the chain as it moved through the housing, thus decreasing the product density of the system. Further, it is not readily possible to position the hooks closer together because this would not allow the chain to easily follow a dual plane path within the confines of the housing.
It is therefore a principal object of this invention to provide a conveyor chain and system for looped sausage products which will increase the density (volume) of sausage links, and at the same time, permit the conveyor to easily move through a circuitous dual-plane path within the smoke compartment.
These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.